Automatic feed weighing and packing apparatus.



PATENTED JULY 2, 1907.

S, & R.v E. LEETHAM. AUTOMATIC FEED WEIGHING AND PACKING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 30,1906.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

No. 858.728. PATENTED JULY 2, 1907. S. & R. B. LEETHAM.

AUTOMATIC FEED WEIGHING AND PACKING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION rmm APB.30,1906.

4 sums-31mm 2.

Wi/TneJseJ:

PATENTED JULY 2, 1907.

S. 6: R. E. LEETHAM. I AUTOMATIC FEED WEIGHING AND PACKING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 30,1906.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

THE NORRIS rzrnes cc.. WASHINGTON, n c.

PATENTED JULY 2, 1907.

S. 6: R. E. LEETHAM. AUTOMATIC FEED WEIGHING AND PACKING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 30,1906.

4 SHEETSSH EET 4.

n, 1; 1m: NDRRIS PETERS Em. WASHINGTON- SIDNEY LEETHAM AND RICHARD EDMUND LEETHAM, OF YORK, ENGLAND.

AUTOMATIC FEED WEIGHING AND PACKING APPARATUS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 2, 1907.

Application filed Ap11'130,1906. Serial No. 314,5 '79.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, SiDNnY LEETHAM, residing at Elmbank, York, and Rrermnp EDMUND LEETHAM, rcsiding at Bootham, York, both in the county of York, England, subjects of the King of Great Britain, have invented new and useful Improvements in Automatic Feed Weighing and Packing Apparatus, of which the following is a specification.

Our invention relates to apparatus for feeding material into sacks or other receptacles and weighing the same and to that class of such apparatus wherein the material is first fed into the sack or other receptacle until the larger part is filled, the packing being then automatically stopped and the remaining portion, required for insuring an accurate weighing, being quietly fed into the receptacle until the feed is entirely stopped through the medium of the movement of the beam of the weighing machine.

According to our invention we make use of a beam balance and feed and packing mechanism for the niaterial in conjunction with a holder for the sack, barrel or other receptacle into which the material is to be packed and weighed. The packing is effected by means of a device which compresses it into the receptacle and. the arrangement may be used either with or without independent valves for controlling the supply.

In carrying out our invention we make use of a single or double pitch screw which is mounted upon a spindle adapted to be revolved by suitable means. Where a sack or bag is the receptacle for the material it is suspended from a mouth-piece on the balance beam, and in one construction the said bag may be initially gathered up around the said mouth-piece with its lower end resting upon a table or support. As the material operated upon by the revolving screw packer gradually fills the sack, the support or table is lowered until it reaches a certain position when it is automatically caused to drop suddenly, leaving the sack hanging freely 011 the mouth-piece to receive the final slight addition of material to obtain an accurate weight; when this is obtained the feed is cut off by the movement of the beam. Or, in lieu of providing a sack support or table which falls as above described, we may make use of a machine wherein the packer screw itself moves axially, and in this case the sack is freely suspended without folding or gathering on to the mouth-piece, and the screw which has vertical movement, is, at the commencement of the filling operation, lowered into the sack and, as it fills the same, gradually rises. When the sack is nearly filled the screw is raised out of the same by suitable means, such as a stop in connection with its spindle which actuates releasing mechanism of. any convenient kind, and it then slowly feeds in the material until the correct weight is obtained when the feed is cut off by the movement of the beam.

screw may in any case be used in combination with a separate valve in the feed hopper which is controlled by the beam as above described. Or, the screw may itself form the valve in which case it revolves in its uppermost position in a casing, the feed being cut off by the movement of the beam putting the driving mechanism out of gear. Furthermore, the screw may be arranged to revolve permanently within a casing and may then itself form the feed valve or be used in conjunction with a separate valve operating as above described.

Where the material is to be packed into barrels, the screw may revolve in a fixedposition in which case the barrel is mounted upon a table which rises and falls as above described with reference to the sack filler. When the barrel has been nearly filled, the table, which has gradually descended, brings the barrel to rest upon a tray or the like suspended from the weight- ,bcam and itself moves to its lowermost position out of contact with the barrel. In this position the material is fed into the barrel for the final weigh, and, when the accurate weight is obtained, the beam descends and cuts off the feed as mentioned above. Or, the screw packer may be of the rising and falling kind which itself may form the feed valve with or without the rising and falling casing or which is used in combination with a separate feed valve operated as above described. In this case the barrel is advantageously placed upon a tray or the like suspended from the weigh-beam and may be in combination with a table moving vertically. The tray may be supported upon a balanced lever by releasing which the filled and weighed barrel may be lowered to the ground for facilitating its removal.

To enable the invention to be fully understood, we will describe it by reference to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure l is a side elevation of a portion of a weighing machine constructed according to the invention and designed for filling sacks. Fig. 2 is an end view thereof. Fig. 2 is a view of certain parts shown in Fig. 2, but in another position. Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 1 illustrating a slight modification. Figs. 4 and 5 are views respectively similar to Figs. 1 and 2 of a machine adapted for filling barrels. Figs. 6 and 7 are views similar to Figs. l and 5 respectively of a modified arrangement of machine for filling barrels, and Fig. 8 is a view of a further modification of the machine adapted for filling sacks.

Referring first to the construction of machine illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2, a is the frame of the weighing machine and b is the Weigh-beam, 0 being the mouthpiece which is suspended from the weigh-beam in the ordinary manner, and (Z the sack attached to the lower end of the mouth-piece c. e is the chute down which falls the material which is to be filled into the sack (Z,

"he 1 this chute o enin at its lower extremit into the annular casing f which opens into the mouth-piece c. g is the screw which, in its uppermost position, is located within the aforesaid casing f, the said screw 9 being mounted upon the spindle g which extends upwards through a bearing g upon the upper end of the casing f. The spindle g can move axially through the hearing 9'' and is suspended at its upper end from the cord or rope g which passes around the pulley g and carries the counter-weight 9 the other end of the cord passing around the guide pulley g and terminating in the handle g The spindle g carries the bevel wheel h gearing with a similar wheel h upon a spindle 72 carried in the bracket 7L and having loosely mounted upon it the driving pulley h. The spindle has also keyed upon it the clutch k by means of which the pulley h can be locked to the spindle k so as to rotate the same and thereby the spindle 9' through the medium of the bevel wheels h, M. The clutch k is controlled by one arm of a bell-crank lever it carried on the pivot shaft k which has also keyed upon it the handle or lever h by means of which the clutch can be caused to engage with the pulley as shown in Fig. 2. The other arm of the bell-crank lever h has pivoted to it the link h the lower end of which is formed with a hook h which engages with a hook it attached to the beam 1) of the weighing machine. The pulley g", during the operation of the machine, is held from rotation by means of the brake block 1 which is mounted upon one end of a pivoted weighted lever 1 this lever has hinged to it one end of a link t the other end of which is pivoted to a bell-crank lever 11 having suspended fromit the hooked link i; the brake block 'i is automatically op erated as hereinafter described by the tappet 3' upon the upper end of the spindle g for locking and releasing the pulley g as required.

The operation of this machine is as follows, that is to say, assuming that the sack d is suspended from the mouth-piece the attendant pulls the handle 9 downwards so as to allow the screw 9 to fall to the lowest position as shown in broken lines in Figs. 1 and 2 the tappet j coming into contact with the hook on the link i as shown in Fig. 2 and causing the bell crank lever i to rock on its pivot and allow the brake block 1' to be pressed againstthe pulley g by the weight on the lever i. The handle it is then operated so as to put the clutch 1L into engagement with the pulley h thereby starting the rotation of the screw g. As the material is filled into the sack and compressed the pressure exerted gradually raises the screw 9 which continues to rise until it reaches the intermediate position also shown in broken lines in Fig. 2. When the screw has reached this position the tappet j upon the upper end of the spindle g strikes the bell-crank lever 11 as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 2 and so lifts the lever i to withdraw the brake block 2' from the periphery of the pulley g which, being thus released, permits the screw 9 to be raised under the action of the weight 9 until it reaches its uppermost position, that is to say, the position in which it is inclosed in the casing f The bell crank lever t is rocked upon its pivot by the said upward movement of the tappet j to such an extent that the weight on the lever 1" holds the lever i against a stop i out of the path of the tappet so that the latter when again lowered is not obstructed. The screw continues rotating so as to slowly feed the final quantity of material into the sack and when the sack contains a predetermined quantity, the beam 1) is over-balanced and moves downwards; the downward movement of the beam causes the hook h to draw the link h" downwards and thus disengages the clutch h from the pulley It so as to stop the rotation of the screw g and thus the feeding of the material into the sack.

Fig. 3 shows an arrangement which is identical with that above described with the exception that the screw revolves in an extended casing which is connected to and rises and falls with it, the connection being similar to that hereinafter described with reference to Figs.

i and 5,

- In Figs. 4 and 5 we have illustrated amachine for Iilling barrels. In this construction the barrel 7: is placed upon a tray Z suspended from the beam 1) of the machine and the screw g works in a casing l which rises and falls with it asis the case with the construction illustrated in Fig. 3, rods f 2 and a crosshead connecting the casing to the screw. The method of operating the screw and of cutting off the feed is identical with that shown in Figs. 1 and 2. To facilitate the removal of the barrel after it has been packed, the table, during the filling operation, is supported upon the arm m which is pivoted at m and is held in the horizontal position by means of the weighted arm of. When the barrel has been filled the weighted arm m is turned down into the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. i, thus lowering the arm m and permitting the table Z to drop so as to enable the barrel is to be more conveniently removed.

Figs. (5 and 7 illustrate a construction of apparatus for filling barrels wherein the barrel itself rises and falls, the screw packer being fixed. To this end the barrel 7; is placed upon the platform n which is connected to a sliding carriage 0 running upon the frame a of the machine. The said carriage o is connected to one end of a rope 0 which runs around a pulley 0 provided with a hand brake 0 held applied by the weighted lever o" and thence around the fixed guide pulley 1), its other end being connected to the spring 17 which is attached to a rigid bolt 10 on the machine frame. The tension of the spring p automatically raises the table to the uppermost position shown in the drawings while the table gradually descends under the pressure exerted by the screw 5/ as it fills the barrel. When the barrel, has been nearly filled its lower end comes to rest upon the tray q suspended from the beam 1) of the balance in the manner above described in order that the final weigh may take place. the table to move farther down so as to leave the barrel free upon the tray q and to this end the said table is provided with an extension 11 having a screw threaded hole n which, when the barrel comes to rest upon the tray, engages with the upper end of the screw '1' rotatably held in a bearing 1' in the machine frame and having keyed upon its lower end a bevel pinion 1' gearing with a bevel pinion 1" upon a transverse spindle 7 adapted to be driven from any suitable source of power.

The ackin screw is driven b bevel earin h h and C; D b 7 the pulley h as in the arrangement shown in Figs. 1 and 2 and the clutch for putting the pulley h into and out of operation is controlled by the hook mechanism h, h h which is also similar to the arrangement shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

It is therefore necessary for I.

This machine operates as follows, that is to say, assuming the barrel to be placed in position upon the table n and to be raised to the uppermost position indicated in Fig. 6, the screw packer g is started to rotate and as it gradually fills the barrel the latter is forced downwards to the table it until it comes to rest upon the scale tray q-as shown in the broken lines in Fig. 6. The table n is then moved farther downwards by the mechanism above described and leaves the tray q freely suspended from the beam 1). The screw continues to rotate to supply the extra quantity of material required for the final weigh and when this has been accomplished the beam b drops and throws the clutch if out of gear in the manner above described.

In Fig. 8 we have shown a construction of machine which is similar to that described with reference to Figs. 6 and 7 butis intended for the filling of sacks in lieu of barrels. In this case the sack d is suspended from the mouth-piece c which is hung from the beam 1) as described with reference to Figs. 1 and 2 and which is initially gathered up around the said mouthpiece and rests upon the table or support a as shown. The operation is identical with that of the machine described with reference to Figs. 6 and 7.

In the machine above described the screw revolving in the casing forms the valve for controlling the feed of material to the sack or barrel, the feed being cut off as above explained by putting the driving mechanism out of gear.

Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we claim is:

1. In an automatic feed weighing and packing apparatus, the combination with weighing mechanism provided with a support for the receptacle to be filled and weighed, of means for delivering the material to be weighed into the receptacle, a revoluble packing screw adapted to project into the receptacle during the filling process, said receptacle and screw being movable relatively to one another and means for separating the same during the final weigh, substantially as described.

In an automatic feed weighing; and packing apparatus, the combination with a weighing mechanism pro Vided with a support for the receptacle to be filled and weighed, a chute for supplying the material to be weighed, a revoluble screw for packing the material in the receptacle and for cutting off the supply of material during the final wei h, means for moving the receptacle and said screw relatively to one another and for separating them during the final weigh and means for automatically stopping said screw to cut oil the supply of material at the end of the final weigh, substantially as described.

3. 111 an automatic feed weighing and packing appa ratus, the combination with a weighing mechanism provided with a support for the receptacle to be filled and weighed, a chute for supplying the material to be weighed, a revoluble screw for feeding the material from said sup ply chute and packing the same in the receptacle, means for moving the receptacle and said screw relatively to one another and for separating them during the final weigh and means for automatically stopping said revoluble feeding screw at the end of the final weigh, substantially as described.

4. In an automatic feed weighing and packing apparuins, the, combination with weighing mechanism pro vided with a support for the receptacle to be filled and weighed, of means for delivering the material to be weighed into the receptacle, an axially movable revoluble packing screw adapted to extend into the receptacle during the filling process, and means for withdrawing said screw from the receptacle, substantially as described.

In an automatic teed weighing and packing apparatus, the combination with weighing mechanism provided with a support for the receptacle to be filled and weighed, of means for delivering the material to be weighed into the receptacle, an axially movable revoluble packing screw adapted to extend into the receptacle during the filling process, means for automatically withdrawing said screw from the receptacle during the final weigh and means for automatically operating said screw at the end of the final weigh to cut oil the supply of material, substantially as described.

6. In an automatic i'eed weighing and packing apparatus. the combination with weighing mechanism pro vidcd with a support for the receptacle to be filled and weighed, a chute for supplying the material to be weighed, an axially movable revoluble screw for feeding the inaterial to be weighed, said screw being adapted to extend in the receptacle during the filling process to pack the material, means for automatically withdrawing said screw from the receptacle during the final weigh and means for automatically stopping the revolution of said screw at the end of the final weigh to cut off the supply of material, substantially as described.

7. In an automatic feed weighing and packing apparatus, the combination with weighing mechanism pro vided with a support for the receptacle to be filled and weighed, a supply chute having a discharge aperture directly over the receptacle support, a revoluble packing screw having a spindle extending through the discharge aperture in said chute, said spindle being mounted in a bearing and being movable longitudinally therein, a pulley, a rope passing over said pulley and having one end secured to said spindle and provided at its other end with a weight, means for automatically locking said pulley against rotation during the filling process. means for automatically unlocking said pulley during the final weigh whereby said screw is withdrawn from the receptacle and means for automatically stopping the rotation of said screw at the end of the final weigh to cut off the supply of material, substantially as described.

8. In an automatic feed weighing and packing appa ratus, the combination with weighing mechanism provided with a support for the receptacle to be filled and weighed, a supply chute having a discharge aperture directly over the receptacle support, a revoluble packing screw having a spindle extending through the discharge aperture in said chute, said spindle. being mounted in a bearing and being movable longitudinally therein, a pullcy, a cylindrical casing around said screw and the dis charge aperture in said chute, said casing being adapted to move longitudinally with said screw whereby said screw feeds the material from the supply chute to the receptacle, a pulley, a rope passing over said pulley and secured at one end to said spindle of said screw and provided at its other end with a weight, means for automatically locking said pulley against rotation during the filling process, means for automatically unlocking said pulley during the final weigh whereby said screw is with drawn from the receptacle and means connected with said weighing mechanism for automatically stopping the rota tion of said screw at the end of the final weigh to cut oil the supply of material, substantially as described.

SIDNEY LEE'IHAM. RICHARD EDMUND LEE'LHAM.

Witnesses R. C. LYMAN, E. Poorln. 

